Hi! My name is Cresta Kowalski and I am a Special Education teacher working in Mineral County, West Virginia. I live in Cumberland, MD with my husband (who is also a teacher), my two girls, and a group of crazy pets. I teach little kiddos, grades K-4, and I specialize in students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. I have always been a bit “geeky” myself, and I was turned on to Code.org when I was in a tech conference where I am training to be a Technology Integration Specialist.
I am interested in being a part of this community because in our area not many students go into tech careers and I believe we are missing on an opportunity. Also, I want to be a part of a movement that changes the stigma of what jobs “girls” can have–I am raising strong minded, empowered girls, and want to influence the young ladies I teach to step out and take on tech! I also want to break the stigma of what people think students with special needs “can’t” do-and I think coding should be taught to all!
I love roller derby, played for a few years on our local team, and cannot wait to start this journey!
Hi - I’m Carol from San Francisco. I teach K-8 technology at St Stephen school and have been using code.org for the last two years. Prior to that time, I had my students involved with Scratch.
I am appreciative that the code.org log in requirement was updated to include pictures for my youngest students - and am eager to try out the Algebra course with my oldest grade. Thank you for making this available to all.
In addition, I look forward to joining this community to further my learning and to get suggestions about better ways to get the students involved.
Hi, My name is Stephanie Wahlstrom. I am an Asst. Principal at St. Pius X Catholic School in Dallas, TX. One of my jobs this year is technology integration across all grades (PK-8). I am very new to code but excited to learn and then bring to my teachers and our students. I enjoy online learning because it allows me to connect with teachers from all over - great ideas are everywhere.
Hello!
My name is Leslie and I am from Central Oklahoma. Previously, I taught 5th/6th grade for a year, Kindergarten for 4 years, Middle School English for 2 years, and I am currently teaching K-5 Technology. I am looking forward to learning more about the code.org curriculum for my students and connecting with other educators.
You can also find me on Twitter @leslie_whitt
I was just at the WVSTC in Morgantown, as well. Were you in Jennifer’s session? I work with adults and I think this will be a great addition to my classroom. I finished the TIS training in 2011. it was thew best training I have ever completed.
I am Misty Dawson. I teach Adult Education in Harrisville, WV. We are in the Mid-Ohio Valley. I am also an Adult Ed TIS. I just attended our State Tech conference and found out about code.org and its courses. I think this will be a great addition to my classroom.
Hello my name is Damon McCaskill and I teach in the city of Los Angeles. I currently teach high schoolers and I am interested in learning more so that I can benefit my students in anyway possible.
My name is Paula Fischer. I live in Plano, TX and I’m a Girl Scout leader looking to add some Computer Science studies in our troop! Our troop is mostly 4th graders, but also have 2nd graders and we’ll have a few Kinders in our group.
I have an IT background, graduated from UNT with BS in Business Computer Information Systems, and work part-time at Fidelity Investments (as a contractor). So, I’m excited to share ‘my specialty’ with the girls!
My favorite ice cream would have to be raspberry!
I’m very excited about this program, hoping to get the girls motivated about technology!
My name is Suzie Schmidt. I teach 2nd grade in St. Louis, MO My team mate and I are excited about teaching Computer Science this year within our overall curriculum. I am hear to learn more.
Suzie
PS I was unable to figure out how to post a new post on this forum, so I opted to reply.
Hi there,
I am Mimi. I live in West Virginia and teach Special Ed K-4; however, I mainly have 3rd and 4th grade students. I am just beginning to get involved in technology and have been introduced to coding in through our Technology Integration Specialist program. Prior to this summer, I truly had no idea what coding was all about, but the more I hear about it, the more interesting I find it. I also feel that I need to expose my students to coding as they may have some strengths in this area that have not been tapped in to. I also would like to introduce it into our school and feel that I need a stronger understanding to do so! I look forward to working with and learning from this community!
Mimi
I am Michelle Eckstein and teach Elementary Technology at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, Colorado. I’ve used Code.org with some of my students and am interested incorporating the full courses with 1st - 5th graders this year. I also use Dash and Dot and Blocky in my technology classes. Looking forward to learning more through this workshop.
My name is John-Paul, and I’m an old fogey (sort of) at computer science, with a bachelors degree in CS way back in 2001 and 15+ years of software and solution development under my belt. I currently work for the Southern Company in Birmingham, AL.
I’m looking at Code.Org as a way to supplement logic concepts and basic computer programming skills for my children.
Looking forward to learning more about Code.Org, and feel free to let me know if I can help anyone else along the way.
I am Jayne and I am a school librarian for grades K-5 in Havertown/Ardmore PA. There 510 students in my school. During the last half of last school year, I had all of the students doing code studio every other week for 30 minutes. I have 18 classes in grades 1-5. 1st grade started with Course 1. 2nd - 5th grades started with Course 2. Each student worked at his or her own pace. Students were so motivated to continue with the levels. Many would work at home or during extra time in the classroom. I look forward to continuing this in September. I’m sure many of the students worked on Code Studio during the summer.
Hello, my name is Patrick Fielder, I teach Computer Science K-5 in Lincoln, NE. This is my second year as a CS teacher, having been in the regular ed classroom (grades 3 and 5) prior to this. My school has about 400 students, all of which come into my room for a 50 minute class on a 4 day rotation, alternating between CS, Art, Music and PE.
I am Alicia Stahl from Charles County Public Schools. I am a Technology Facilitator which means I teach technology to elementary students (PK-5). Being part of this community is very important to me. It gives me the opportunity to reach a student that would not normally learn coding on their own.
I have taught Courses 1-3 with students K-5 at my school. Our school is a district partner and offers coding to our students.
My favorite ice cream is chocolate and a chocoholic. I love to read, spin and spend time with family/friends. I am married with two children (girl and boy). I live on a farm and we raise over 70 head of black angus cattle.
I look forward to being part of this wonderful community.
Hi! My name is Hilary and I have taught kindergarten for the last 8 years. However, I am thrilled to be embarking on a new journey for the 2015-2016 school year. I will be teaching technology to 2nd- 5th grade students. In my district, we have this class at all elementary buildings. It is similar to electives/special classes such as gym and music in that each class comes to me for about 25 minutes per day. A few of the units that I will be teaching include digital citizenship, keyboarding, Google Docs, and Coding. I have no experience with coding, so I am looking forward to learning from everyone and attending a local code.org workshop as well. Thank you for any helpful hints you have to offer.
Hey All!
My name is Meagan and I live in beautiful Big Horn, Wyoming! I teach 2nd grade in nearby Sheridan. I’ve been teaching for fix years and am really lucky to be 1:1 with iPads. I want to learn more about coding because my kids want to learn more about it!
My name is Justin Heid. I teach 5th grade at Walkersville Elementary School in Frederick, Maryland. I have taught all grades K-5 except for 4th grade. I have been teaching for 10 years. I am the STEM Leader at my school. I work with a colleague to plan activities for the school and community. My experience with Code.org has been limited to participating in the Hour of Code. I am looking forward to learning more about Code Studio and sharing it with my colleagues and students. I am looking forward to the training on August 8th in VA.
Hi! My name is Mrs. Casey. I teach middle grades at a small private school in Jacksonville, FL. I teach a little bit of everything but my main subject is social studies. Many of my students have special needs. I really wanted to add a resource class at my school for game coding which is why I’m taking this course. I am hoping that it will be just enough of a challenge for my students but not too frustrating. I have a little bit of web design background. I was a graphic designer before I became a teacher so I understand the concept of layers and I kind of “get” the way coding works. I have a MA in Instructional Design and Technology and I really want to help my school get more use out of the technology we have.
I don’t like ice cream. If I had some though, I would choose vanilla bean. I’d prefer a slice of custard pie.
